UV-A Treatment of ZrO₂ Thin Films Fabricated by Environmental Friendlier Water-Based Solution Processing: Structural and Optical Studies

An environmentally friendlier solution processing has been introduced to fabricate zirconium oxide (ZrO₂) films on quartz substrates, using spin coating of simple water-based solution. The films cured with UV-A = 330 nm for different times (40, 80, 120 min) were investigated for structural and optical properties and compared with thermally annealed film (at 350 °C). XRD and Raman spectroscopy showed amorphous structure in all the samples with no significant phase transformation with UV-A exposure. AFM microscopy showed smooth and crack free films with surface roughness ≤2 nm that reduced with UV-A exposure. Ultraviolet-visible (UV–Vis) spectroscopy demonstrated optical transmittance ≥88% and energy band gap variations as 4.52–4.70 eV. Optical constants were found from spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). The refractive index (n) values, measured at 470 nm increased from 1.73 to 2.74 as the UV-A exposure prolonged indicating densification and decreasing porosity of the films. The extinction coefficient k decreased from 0.32 to 0.19 indicating reduced optical losses in the films under the UV-A exposure. The photoluminescence (PL) spectra exhibited more pronounced UV emissions which grew intense with UV-A exposure thereby improving the film quality. It is concluded that UV-A irradiation can significantly enhance the optical properties of ZrO₂ films with minimal changes induced in the structure as compared to thermally treated film. Moreover, the present work indicates that water-based solution processing has the potential to produce high-quality ZrO₂ films for low cost and environmental friendlier technologies. The work also highlights the use of UV-A radiations as an alternate to high temperature thermal annealing for improved quality.